This reading features woman writers with with a notable record of publishing and other accomplishments. This year’s readers include Brenda Cardenas (Bilingual Press), Poet Laureate of Milwaukee; Angela Jackson (Triquarterly Books, winner of 2 American Book awards), Jacquelyn Pope (Marsh Hawk Press) and Lina Ramona Vitkauskas (Ravenna Press).

Artwork in all media by women from the international community.

Artists Represented:
Gina Adams, Setsuko Aihara, Linda Alterwitz, Carla Aurich, Marcia Babler, Ilse Bolle, Cat Del Buono, Priti Gulati Cox, Amanda Dandeneau, Yana Dimitrova, Charlotte Freed, Kate Hampel, Ting Ying Han, Sara Holwerda, Alison Horvitz, Hall Jameson, Shelly Jyoti, Salma Khalil, Lory Lockwood, Nichole Maury, Rachel Perrine, Carrie Ballinger Porter, Kate Shannon, Ann Fanciullo Sperling, Susan Sponsler, Susan Tennenbaum, Colette Veasey-Cullors

Juror: Laura Kina
“For the 13th International Open Women Made Gallery received 224 entries from artists working in a wide range of mediums including painting, drawing, photography, fiber, mixed media, and to a lesser extent sculpture, installation, and video. Entries came from across the United States as well as internationally. Thirty-four works by 27 artists were selected.

Thematically many of the works submitted engaged with either issues of the body or landscape. Figuration, and examinations of gendered identity were common subjects. Representational and psychological landscapes, floral and pattern and decoration motifs also abounded. As an invited juror, I chose not to look at where the submissions came from or any biographical details but rather to judge the work based on aesthetic and conceptual considerations as evidenced in both the actual work and the artist statement. Did the work make me stop and look a second time because of its beauty, absurdness, quirkiness, use of materials or innovation? In the context of a women’s gallery, did the work push boundaries that have not been toppled before? Did the work move me in anyway emotionally or prompt me to consider a new topic or even an old topic in a new way?

“Judging is always subjective and space is always limited. There’s some good art here, and I hope you enjoy the works selected for the exhibition as much I do. It was an honor to jury this exhibition.” -Laura Kina

Laura Kina is an artist, independent curator, and scholar. She is an Associate Professor of Art, Media and Design and Director of Asian American Studies at DePaul University. She earned her MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago and her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work has shown internationally and is represented by Diana Lowenstein Fine Arts in Miami, Florida. She has been involved in Chicago’s Asian American Arts community with DestinAsian (1992-1995), Asian American Artists Collective and Project A (2001-2005), and the Foundation for Asian American Independent Media (1997-2005). For more information visit www.laurakina.com.

Recorded Sunday, March 21, 2010 at Woman Made Gallery.